The Potential of the Thematic Tourism Digital Platform From the Outskirts of Toyomarto Village to a Smart Village

This study aims to analyze the condition of digital platforms in the development of thematic tourism in Toyomarto Village, identify the potential and challenges in optimizing digital platforms, and formulate digital tourism development strategies to improve the village's competitiveness towards becoming a Smart Village. Using a descriptive qualitative approach through case studies, data was collected through interviews, observations, and documentation, then analyzed using triangulation to strengthen the validity of the findings. The results of the study show that Toyomarto Tourism Village has a variety of tourism potentials with various thematic tour packages, whose digital platform management began with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology's 2023 program, resulting in an official website. The website is integrated with four marketplaces, namely Atourin, Mister Aladin, Traveloka, and Blibli, and social media management is handled by Pokdarwis. The digital platform has proven to be capable of expanding the reach of promotion and empowering local MSMEs through online marketing, thereby opening up opportunities to increase village income and strengthen tourism identity based on community participation. However, its development faces several challenges, such as limited price flexibility, suboptimal coordination among tourism managers, low digital literacy among the community, legal requirements for SME products, and insufficient post-training support. The strategies implemented include actively involving MSMEs, conducting regular evaluations and training, collaborating with various parties on promotion, and integrating online booking systems to strengthen the sustainability of the digital tourism platform. These findings confirm that digital transformation can be an important instrument in enhancing the competitiveness of tourism villages in an inclusive, innovative, and sustainable manner, as well as encouraging cross-sector collaboration for more advanced local economic development.